Draft prospects - Who do we want?

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

There are a lot of bigs I'd trade harden for. I see him like melo. Puts up big numbers but won't lead to championships. Plus, his defense is the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen.

So ibaka, Millsap, cousins, vucevic, Aldridge, griffin, favors, love, bosh, Drummond, Monroe, gasol, horford, Noah are all bugs I'd trade him for.

This is flat out one of the most absurd comments I have ever seen. The first MASSIVE mistake you made is to reference a championship as a point of differentiation. Do you even realize how many championships those guys have? You listed 14 players, and 1 has a championship (Bosh).

Let's see, the Rockets are 14-6 without Dwight Howard this season. This is virtually 100% contributed with what Harden brings to these games. Just look at his game stats....he is a machine. He is flat out the most dynamic SG, if not the most dynamic guard in the entire NBA. The difference between Melo and Harden is fairly large, and it is driven by Harden's ability to get to the FT line at will and the fact that he is an elite 3 point shooter. Both are terrible defenders. That being said, no one wins a championship by themselves, so it is also absurd to state that this guy, or that guy can't win. Put the right GROUP of guys together, and these guys both could play key parts to a championship.

And it is just funny that you reference defense as a key "detractor" for Harden, when some of your bigs are equally bad (i.e Cousins, Vucevic, Love, Griffin). Not a great arguement with this list overall.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Harden is my MVP this year so far (Curry is a close second, but I think he's had more help). He stepped up his defensive effort, is one of the leaders in steals and has played a lot without the co-stars guys like Curry, Lebron, etc. have had with Dwight missing as much time as he has. Harden has pretty much been willing the Rockets to victory at this point.

[TheFuture]

There are a lot of bigs I'd trade harden for. I see him like melo. Puts up big numbers but won't lead to championships. Plus, his defense is the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen.

So ibaka, Millsap, cousins, vucevic, Aldridge, griffin, favors, love, bosh, Drummond, Monroe, gasol, horford, Noah are all bugs I'd trade him for.

This is flat out one of the most absurd comments I have ever seen. The first MASSIVE mistake you made is to reference a championship as a point of differentiation. Do you even realize how many championships those guys have? You listed 14 players, and 1 has a championship (Bosh).

Let's see, the Rockets are 14-6 without Dwight Howard this season. This is virtually 100% contributed with what Harden brings to these games. Just look at his game stats....he is a machine. He is flat out the most dynamic SG, if not the most dynamic guard in the entire NBA. The difference between Melo and Harden is fairly large, and it is driven by Harden's ability to get to the FT line at will and the fact that he is an elite 3 point shooter. Both are terrible defenders. That being said, no one wins a championship by themselves, so it is also absurd to state that this guy, or that guy can't win. Put the right GROUP of guys together, and these guys both could play key parts to a championship.

And it is just funny that you reference defense as a key "detractor" for Harden, when some of your bigs are equally bad (i.e Cousins, Vucevic, Love, Griffin). Not a great arguement with this list overall.

Harden puts up great stats, but I don't see him as a top 10 player. Give me klay over harden any day of the week for my team.

[TheFuture]

There are a lot of bigs I'd trade harden for. I see him like melo. Puts up big numbers but won't lead to championships. Plus, his defense is the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen.

So ibaka, Millsap, cousins, vucevic, Aldridge, griffin, favors, love, bosh, Drummond, Monroe, gasol, horford, Noah are all bugs I'd trade him for.

This is flat out one of the most absurd comments I have ever seen. The first MASSIVE mistake you made is to reference a championship as a point of differentiation. Do you even realize how many championships those guys have? You listed 14 players, and 1 has a championship (Bosh).

Let's see, the Rockets are 14-6 without Dwight Howard this season. This is virtually 100% contributed with what Harden brings to these games. Just look at his game stats....he is a machine. He is flat out the most dynamic SG, if not the most dynamic guard in the entire NBA. The difference between Melo and Harden is fairly large, and it is driven by Harden's ability to get to the FT line at will and the fact that he is an elite 3 point shooter. Both are terrible defenders. That being said, no one wins a championship by themselves, so it is also absurd to state that this guy, or that guy can't win. Put the right GROUP of guys together, and these guys both could play key parts to a championship.

And it is just funny that you reference defense as a key "detractor" for Harden, when some of your bigs are equally bad (i.e Cousins, Vucevic, Love, Griffin). Not a great arguement with this list overall.

Harden puts up great stats, but I don't see him as a top 10 player. Give me klay over harden any day of the week for my team.

[bleedspeed]

If we don't draft Okafor or Towns. I wonder if he will declare and we would have a shot at him in the 2nd round.

Dakari Johnson

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Dakari-Johnson-6470/

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I see more Ginobili or Dragic in Russell than Harden, though I can see why Harden gets used because some parts of his game are like Russell's.

[zigzag22 [enjin:6591633]]

Anyone who doesn't think Harden is a top 10 player........woof. Houston is currently third in the impossible West (35-16) and has missed 19 games (and counting) from Dwight Howard, who is no longer a top 40 player in the league. That team is SOLELY built on Mr. "I Only Put Up Meaningless Stats" and a bunch of solid, contributing 3 and D guys (Ariza, Beverly, Brewer, D-Mo, etc.)

[TheFuture]

Anyone who doesn't think Harden is a top 10 player........woof. Houston is currently third in the impossible West (35-16) and has missed 19 games (and counting) from Dwight Howard, who is no longer a top 40 player in the league. That team is SOLELY built on Mr. "I Only Put Up Meaningless Stats" and a bunch of solid, contributing 3 and D guys (Ariza, Beverly, Brewer, D-Mo, etc.)

I see the stats, I see the record, i accept your opinion and I still have my opinion.

[TheFuture]

So if we miss out on the top 5 players (Okafor,towns,mudiay,Russell,Johnson) would you rather take a Winslow, WCS, porzingis, Mario, looney, turner, or oubre type prospect or look to trade down for 2 later picks?

I like the idea of trading down for any 2 of these guys: Kaminsky, Tyus Jones, Harrell, jerian grant, rondae hollis-jefferson.

I'm really liking Jones, grant, and HJ. Harrell and kaminsky are two bigs who intrigue me.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

D'Angelo Russell with a triple double tonight: 23 pts, 11 assts, and 11 rebs in 35 minutes.

Again, this kid is doing stuff that is almost unheard of at the D-1 level in terms of his all-around play. Evan Turner is the last guy I can think of that was putting up these kinds of numbers, but he did it as a junior, not a freshman. I realize ET didn't turn out to be that great of a pro, but Russell definitely has a better outside shot, which is Turner's achilles heel.

That is awesome. So many options this year. We've got a good thing going.

I'm getting worried that this is shaping up to be a three-man draft in the top tier: Okafor, Russell, and Towns. And the way we're playing, we'll be on the outside looking in!

(Don't get me wrong. I want us to compete and win games. Tanking is uncouth. But still, damn, are these three starting to get separation from the field!)

Meh. Not long ago you and I were arguing about Towns and now he's in your top tier. I also like Stanley Johnson and if he's the "consolation prize" in this scenario, then I'll be a happy camper.

Not sure I was arguing in the sense that I didn't like him. I just couldn't get a handle on him because of the shift-style rotations and multitudes of bigs Kentucky was rotating through. What's happened since then is it appears he has established himself more firmly in the rotation and he's producing some impressive numbers.